Relationship and Sex
14 random facts we learned about sex this year

More people are engaging in same-sex love.

Another day, another sex study. At least that's what our 2016 was like. And while some of those fun facts made us feel happy feels (i.e. more acceptance of same-sex exploration) a lot of them made us consider locking our sh*t down until 2017 (like that pube study, for example).

Now that we're a year older and wiser, let's recap the sex facts that made the news this year—including the ones we wish we could unlearn.

1. Straight Guys Watch Gay Porn

A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior asked men about their porn habits, and discovered that more than 20 percent of straight dudes said they watched gay porn. Also, all men surveyed watched some form of porn in the last six months—but no shocker there.

2. It Takes Work to Have a Happy Sex Life

Researchers from the University of Toronto surveyed 1,900 people and found that couples that believe that a great sex life takes work are more likely to have steamy sex than people who think it just happens when you're in love with each other. In other news, the sky is blue. (For a hotter roll in the hay, check out the Women's Health Boutique for sex supplies like lube.)

3. TV Can Mess With Your Man’s Swimmers

A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology discovered that watching too much TV can negatively impact a guy’s sperm count. Worth noting: Guys who watched five hours of TV or more per day were the most impacted. So your guy has to have a serious coach potato habit to qualify.

4. Your Sexts Probably Have a Larger Audience Than You Think

You would think that a sext to your S.O. would stay between the two of you, but a study from Indiana University found that just isn’t the case every time. Researchers discovered that 25 percent of people had shared a sext with someone else—and, on average, they shared it with three friends. Who says chivalry is dead? Because they're on to something.

5. More Than Half of People Don’t Have Sex on Their Wedding Night

You might assume you’re going to get some serious booty on your wedding night, but a survey from the lingerie brand Bluebella says only 48 percent of couples do the nasty after saying "I do."

6. More People Are Engaging in Same-Sex Love

A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that the number of adults who have had sex with people of the same gender has doubled since the ‘90s, for both men and women. People are also way more accepting of same-sex love than they have been in the past. We'll cheers to that.

7. Laid back Women Get Laid More

Here’s good motivation for de-stressing: A study from Florida State University found that women with open and agreeable personalities had more sex than women who were more neurotic.

8. Your Genes Dictate When You Lose Your Virginity

In bizarre research, a study published in the journal Nature Genetics found that people with the gene variation CADM2 were more likely to have sex earlier in life, while those with a different gene variation were more likely to swipe their V-cards later. Thanks, mom and dad.

9. Young Women Aren’t Using Condoms

A small study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that only two out of 24 young women said that it was important to them to use condoms consistently—and even those women didn’t use condoms each time they had sex. Seriously? Wrap it up. It’s the most effective way to lower your risk of contracting STIs, other than abstinence—and really, do you want to go there?

10. People Feel Strongly About Pubes

According to a survey from YouGov, people under the age of 30 are pretty judgmental about their partners' pubic hair. Nearly half of those surveyed said guys should trim down there, while 54 percent think women should. When it comes to your pubes, we say you do you.

11. Men Pay for Sex More Often Than You'd Think

A YouGov survey of 1,000 men and women found that 12 percent of men have paid for sex and another two percent say they “prefer not to say” (a.k.a., they’ve paid for sex). These are just the men who are willing to admit it, so…

12. Female Viagra Doesn’t Really Work

Women were understandably stoked when Addyi, a.k.a. female Viagra, got FDA approval, but a review of eight clinical trials published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that the drug only caused women to have .5 more satisfying sexual encounters a month. They also had more dizziness, nausea, and fatigue, which aren’t exactly known to get you in the mood.

13. Women Give Way More Oral Than Guys

In just-plain-wrong news, women are twice as likely as guys to have given oral than men, according to a study of 900 Canadian undergrads published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. Yeah…not OK.

14. Emojis Are Turning You into a Horndog

People who use emojis are hornier than those who send more boring text-only texts, according to Match.com’s Singles in America survey. Emoji fans think about sex more and actually do the deed more often than those who stick to plain old text messaging. Clearly, emojis are the spice of life.